Many of us find it difficult to recall teaching without the advantage of being able to search online for any needed resources. In fact, we often pride ourselve on being the Google King or Queen (I do at any rate). The purpose of this page, therefore, is to share websites, online resources if you will, and learn about technology integration.
Please peruse the website(s) below and add one (or more) of your own. Follow your addition with a very brief annotation of the site. Reminder: click the "New Window" box when you add a link.
This website is versatile in that it can be used with multiple populations (ESL students, students who struggle with reading, advanced readers, and more). It is free and allows you to upload or key in 8 different texts. After uploading your text, select an avatar, choose "read the word" and the avatar reads the text aloud. Note: if you exceed 8 uploads, there is a charge. However, you can delete and continue to upload as many texts as you choose so long as you don't exceed 8 at a time.
This website is a little different that Dr. Comer's. It will show the user how to say the word correctly. The nice thing is that you can click "Define your entry here" and it will also show you the definition of the word. This can be useful for ESL students and struggling readers who don't know many words or their definitions. There is an option to translate but I couldn't get it to work for me. At the bottom where the comments are, you can translate the comments into several different languages. I used it with 3rd graders to correctly pronounce fjord in our study of geography. It would be nice if only it were connected to a thesaurus.
This is a great website to get elementary children interested in creating and writing their own story. The website lends itself to creative writing and story telling. Once you click on the "my story maker" link, you can get started creating your story. You enter your name and choose your main character, setting, and the main characters goal (i.e. rescue, make friends, travel, etc.). Then the tutorial walks you through adding props and scenery. The neat thing about this website is you can add your own text, or you can manipulate the props and characters and the computer will create text based on the actions/emotions you choose. This option allows it to be used with students of various abilities (struggling readers, advanced readers, special education students, ESL students, etc.). Once students complete their story they can save it and print it. The website only saves it for one month, so it is important to save it to the computer and print the document.
This is a great website for students who want to create their own story by using photos which they've made. This would be great in the middle school classroom where students are reading stories with no pictures. This program would allow them to create a series of pictures which they could then use to tell what the story would appear. I think it would be great to assign to the same class and see how they all picture the story differently. A down fall of this program is that the students would have to have it downloaded on the computers for them or they would have to do it themselves which could be time consuming.
This is a great website for elementary students and teachers. It has great animations the children will love. This website is awesome! It allows students to play educational games from subjects taught at school: language arts, geography, math, and science. It allows the teacher or student to choose the grade level or level of difficulty. This would be great to use as a center. The younger students will be learning motor skills, how to control a mouse, and navigate around a computer screen. Some games, as in geography, will allow you to print your score.
I know we all want tech sites, but this one is a good practical site. It allow one to creat their own math practice pages (notice I didn't say wortksheet). When they just don't quite get it and all the practice pages available have been used. Get extra here.
This is something cool and different I have used several times in the classroom. When used with a projector, it gives the students a visual reminder and stopping place. It also gives the teacher a definitive ending point to an activity.
This wiki site puts lists of 2.0 tool into categories on the "50 Tools" page. It has a wealth of information for those looking for web tools and information.
This is a website that I was introduced to last year. It is a free site where you can enter lists of spelling words and save them for future use. There is a premium version that has a few more features. After the teacher has logged into the site and put in the list, students can have the program teach the word or play games with the free version. Students can also take a test over the word (they will need typing skills) since the program will read the word and a sentence (they can also have the word repeated). Students can then print out a report with their grade. With the premium version, students can be added and results can be kept.
This is a great resource. Teachers have made a website with all different kinds of Smart Board activities already made. You pick the standard and a lesson do download. You must setup a login, but its free. This way if you find something it will put it in your downloads so you don't lose it when you are ready to use it. Enjoy.
I had a friend introduce me to this website recently and I have become addicted. Pintrest lets you organize adn share thngs that you find on the web. People use pinboards for everything. The pin boards a a great way to discover new ideas. On Pintrest you can type any topic in the search engine. The search engines will browse other pin boards to match the topic entered. It will pull up websites that other users have found that will be helpful to you.
This is a resource that I use with struggling readers. It has a section that includes activities with the initial sounds and word patterns. The stories allows students to interact with it. It is very student friendly and appealing to the students.
I love this site for generating writing ideas! You can set the story starter for topics by grade level and pull the crank...it's especially effective when you have it up on a Smart Board. The story starter machine cranks out the who, what, when, where, and why for an orginal story to be written by the students. The sound effects just make it all "over the top".
This site is wonderful for all students. It has games, songs, and videos in each subject area. These science songs have catchy memorable tunes and are based on solid science. Students will want to spend time each day on this site,
This site acts as a portal for educators, students, and parents looking for free Internet resources. The site has links to reinforcement activities, projects ideas, tutorials, etc. All grade levels and subject areas are represented here. This is an excellent site to help locate additional resources to help integrate technology into the classroom.
This website aloows students to see themselves outside their small world. www.IfItWereMyHome.com is a way to understanding life outside your home. You can use the country comparison tool to compare living conditions in your own country to those of another. You start by selecting a region to compare on the map to the right, and begin your exploration. The site could be ideal for geographic social studies lessons or settings in novels.
I love Shelfari! This site allows students (anyone) to share tons of information about books. The user may create a virtual bookshelf, discover new books, and learn more about books galore. The user may also follow favorite groups or form groups. The site also shows featured books, most popular, recent edits, and much more. It gives author and character descriptions as well as reviews of books. Another great feature is that it will link to your Amazon account and let other users see your wish list. This is a great site for people to share their love of reading and favorite books and authors.
Please peruse the website(s) below and add one (or more) of your own. Follow your addition with a very brief annotation of the site. Reminder: click the "New Window" box when you add a link.
Name
Website Link
Description
Chambers
Cannon
Thompson